Nuggets coach George Karl calls it The Street, his term for when he's out on the town and fans small-talk about his team, pat him on the back in congratulations or furrow their brow while asking pointed questions.

Lately, there has been little to question. The Nuggets this season won an NBA franchise-record 57 games, including 23 consecutive victories at home. They open the playoffs as the West's No. 3 seed, hosting Golden State on Saturday.

The Street loves Karl's team.

"I go way back and have always liked the Nuggets, especially at home, but this is absolutely the best combination of front office, coach and basketball team ever assembled in Colorado," said longtime Nuggets fan James Sanderson.

"The fans are more excited than the last couple of years," Ty Lawson said. "They think we can do big things this year. Their support is huge, and we're ready to go into the postseason and show them we're going to do well."

Proof of Nuggets Fever isn't in what any couple of supporters say but what fans collectively have done with their actions, and their wallets, backing a team that has surprised many by doing so well without a superstar.

Sports-talk radio features more Nuggets conversation. Home attendance nearly set a record at the Pepsi Center. The demand for Nuggets merchandise is at an all-time high. And ratings for the team's flagship TV station, Altitude, have skyrocketed.

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This season, the Nuggets averaged the second-most fans in franchise history — 17,820, up 791 from last season. The only season the Nuggets drew more fans was in 2009-10, when they averaged 17,995.

And fans are decked out in Nuggets gear like never before. Nuggets merchandise at the Altitude Authentics store in the arena has flown off the shelves.

"This is my 15th year now, and it's the highest it's ever been," said Jon Waldron, director of retail operations at Kroenke Sports Enterprises. "The people have been behind the Nuggets from the start."

On March 13, the night the Nuggets blew out the Knicks in Carmelo Anthony's return to Denver, the team store sold 700 pairs of gold shorts. At $40 a pop, that was a $28,000 haul from one item of clothing during one game.

A unique aspect of Nuggets Fever is the variety of jerseys being sold. Unlike three years ago, when big stars Melo and Chauncey Billups were on the team, there's not the sight of person after person wearing those players' jerseys. These days, the jerseys could be honoring one of six or seven players on the team, which is minus an all-star. The new gold jerseys have been the fans' favorite.

"The gold jersey, from the day they launched it, has been our No. 1 seller," Waldron said.

Nuggets fans try to distract a Bobcats player at the free throw line during a game this season. Excitement about the Nuggets has ballooned the past two months. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Meanwhile, more fans are tuning into Altitude to watch a team that struggled out of the gate but caught fire over the past two months. TV ratings of Nuggets telecasts are up 25 percent over last season's average — including hikes of 89.8 percent over March 2012 and 54.1 percent over last April, according to Altitude, which would not release its number of viewers.

Karl said those figures are indicative of how much fans have grown to like his young, hustling, fast-paced team.

"I think The Street likes this team. They like watching it," Karl said. "Most of the people (contrast it with) the team that went to the (2009) Western Conference finals, (saying that team) wasn't fun to watch. We were good, we won a lot of games. But I think this team, the aesthetics of the energy we put on the court, is contagious. Fans like to identify with it."

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